


Cardinal Song

by Puke_Silver



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Baby Jon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-17
Updated: 2017-03-17
Packaged: 2018-10-06 09:53:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10331990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Puke_Silver/pseuds/Puke_Silver
Summary: Just averyquick, imagined little bit of Jon and Ned's ride from the Tower back to Winterfell.





	

Ned smoothed his fingers along the swell of the babe’s reddened cheeks. The boy had only just settled, the shine of tears still staining his soft face as he cooed and clucked in Ned’s rough hold. 

_He’ll know a bastard’s life._

The thought made Ned’s throat tighten as he looked down to the child—the innocence of its slumber restful despite the snow, which flurried around the pair. 

“I’m sorry,” Ned said, resting the babe’s small head in the cradle of his palm. He pressed his lips to the boy’s forehead then, the gesture fumbling yet felt.

And when the child looked up to him, staring back with wet eyes as dark as Lyanna’s, Ned was sure the boy would again begin to whimper. But he was surprised (if not relieved) to find that the child did not. And when instead the babe simply parted his lips, their pink _O_ just as round and soft as the boy’s ever other feature—each one shaped as if freshly molded—Ned’s eyes crinkled into a slow smile.

The boy wriggled in his blankets then, huffing as he turned to press his little face into the warmth of Ned’s chest, and closed his eyes once more.

_I promise._

At the memory of the words, Ned’s smile faltered, and he looked again to the babe in his arms—the babe he held before he would even hold his own son—his hair dark and his face gentle.

“I’m sorry, Jon,” Ned said, sniffing gruffly before wrapping the boy tighter and spurring the horse again to motion.


End file.
